#yes i'm tagging this as those pathetic morons archetypes manifest in many forms

[roxannepolice]

k so i have a screenwriting project for drama, 30 min short film, i have like Some ideas but they're not good. you mention in my notes that in Romanian folk Christianity that God created Satan because he was lonely, that's compelling, could you share more? Could you give me research jumping off points?

Hi, sorry it took me a moment, but, again, craziest week in a while and it's not even because of DW.

But yeah, there appears to be a general idea of some kind of fraternal/co-creative relation between God and Satan in some folk Christian traditions. Arguably it's more the case of older myths getting a Christian makeover (sth sth Odin and Loki being blood brothers). Still, we end up with Satan and God hanging out amicably by the sea while bishops excommunicate each other over whether the Holy Spirit comes directly from the Father through the Son or simply from the Son.

The guy where I got this from was Mircea Eliade and he sort of applies jungian psychoanalysis of collective unconscious to religion. The specific essay is available on Internet Archive (my beloved) on pages 78-124. It's titled Mephistopheles and the Androgyne or mystery of the whole. Just fair warning, Eliade was writing in the first half of the 20th century and some of his vocab may be... not on par with modern sensitivities especially on Tumblr? He's not intentionally insulting or anything, just uses words like "gipsi" or presents male and female as discrete opposites or his information may be more anecdotal than thoroughly researched. So just. fair warning. It's brilliant in terms of finding general stories and their interpretations, so I hope it will be useful.

Some good bits (sorry, no quotes, the pdf is not editable):

Romanians have God and Satan be brothers or Jesus and Satan both be children of God

Ethiopians have a Saint and Devil-Woman be siblings (he ends up praying to Jesus for strength to murder his sister)

Peoples of Altai have God create the Devil by spitting on the Waters after exclaiming "If only I had a brother, I would make the World!". Then Satan suggests they be brothers and create tWorld together, but God answers "We will not be brothers but companions"

Romani of Transylvania have God be "unhappy alone" and admitting They don't know how to create the World, hence creating the Devil

Finnish version has God ask Their reflection in Waters how to create the World

Bulgarians dead ass have God see their shadow and tell it "Get up, comrade!" Satan then asks God to split thr Universe between them

Bottom line: knowing that this is the shit I've been into since I was a teenager, imagine what finding thoschei and especially tensimm did to my brain.